Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

is the second (form some seasons was the third) most popular sport in Cape Verde. The league are divided into eleven divisions,

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whos ...

and Santo Antão has two zones since the early 2000s. The basketball association is a federation which is known as the Capeverdean Basketball Federation (Federação Caboverdiana de Basquetebol or FCBB). The FCBB became was founded in 1986 and became affiliated to

FIBA The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. Originally known as the (hence FIBA), in 1989 it dropped the word ''amateur'' from its nam ...

in 1988. Its current president is Kitana Cabral. The country had 43 basketball teams as of 2015.

Professional leagues

In 2021, the Praia Basketball League was established, becoming the first professional league in Cape Verde. It changed its name to become the Cabo Verde Basketball League in 2022, and features six teams.

Regional leagues

The divisions numbers eleven on nine islands, seven has an island league and two contains two zones.

Island or regional championships

The light blue indicates a league having first and second divisions. Between the early 2000s and 2017, Santiago had a North and South competition.

About the Basketball Championships (Island and National)

The Cape Verdean Basketball Championships takes place each year. The winner of each regional league (sometimes a runner-up qualifies when a club wins the national title) competes in the national championships each year. I is one of the remaining countries in the world that uses the old system of qualification.

History

The popularity of basketball in Cape Verde did not grow until the country's independence in 1975. That time, it was in the shadow of the popularity of football (soccer) along with most of Africa. Basketball clubs and competition were rising in around the 1980s and 1990s. Seven Stars won in 2011.

AD Bairro Associação Desportiva do Bairro Craveiro Lopes, commonly known as AD Bairro or ADESBA for short, is a multisport club that had played in the Santiago Island South Zone League in Cape Verde. It is based in the capital city of Praia in the isla ...

won the 2015 national championships and was the first club ever to compete in the African competition, Bairro finished 8th in the African Basketball Champions League.

Basketball Championships

This article list the available information of the national title wins: *2011: Seven Stars *2012:

*2014:

Académica do Mindelo Associação Académica do Mindelo ( Capeverdean Crioulo, ALUPEC or ALUPEK: ''Akadémika'', São Vicente Crioulo: ''Académica'' or ''Akadémika'') is a football club that had played in the Premier division and the São Vicente Island League in ...

*2015:

Basketball clubs

Here are a list of some popular basketball clubs (or teams) in Cape Verde, the right indicates where they participate in an island championships: *ABC da Praia - Santiago Championships *

- São Vicente Championships *Achadinha - Santiago Championships - withdrew *Desportivo de Assomada *

- Santiago Championships *Black Panthers - Santiago Championships - no longer participant * Beira Mar do Tarrafal - Santiago Championships - withdrew *GS Castilho - São Vicente Championships *GDRC Delta - Santiago South Championships - withdrew *

Desportivo da Praia Desportivo da Praia is a football club that currently plays in the Premier division and the Santiago Island League (South) in Cape Verde. It is based in the capital city of Praia in the island of Santiago. It is the military team of Cape Verde. Its ...

? - Santiago South Championships * Os Garridos? - Santiago Championships - withdrew *Os Guardiões - Santiago Championships *Lem Ferreira - Santiago Championships - withdrew *Lenfer - Santiago Championships * Lapaloma/Eugénio Lima (Lapaloma) - Santiago Championships (South) *Palmarejo Bulls - Santiago South Championships *Ponta de Água - Santiago Championships *Prédio - Santiago South Championships * GDRC Pretoria - Sal Championships *GDR São Lourenço - Santiago Championships * Seven Stars - Santiago Championships *

Spartak d'Aguadinha Associação Spartak D'Aguadinha is a sports club whose football team had played in the Premier division and plays in the Fogo Island League in Cape Verde. It is based in São Filipe's subdivision of Aguadinha located next to Bila Baxo (the ci ...

- Fogo Championships *

CD Travadores Clube Desportivo Travadores ( Capeverdean Crioulo, ALUPEC: ''Klubi Desportivu Travadoris'') is a football club in the Santiago South Premier Division in Cape Verde and are one of the unrelegated clubs of the Premier Division. It is based in the ...

- Santiago Championships - former team * Unidos do Norte - Santiago Championships

Best Cape Verdean Basketball Player

The Best Basketball Player (''Mejor Baloncesta Caboverdiano'') are honored once every year. Here is a couple of list: *2010-11

Ivan Almeida Ivan Almeida (born 10 May 1989) is a Cape Verdean professional basketball player for Benfica of the Liga Portuguesa de Basquetebol. Standing at 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m), he usually plays as small forward. Professional career In August 2017, Alme ...

MVP of the Cape Verdean Basketball Premier Division

*2009-10: Ivan Almeida *2010-11: Ivan Almeida

Arenas and facilities

Basketball facilities in Cape Verde include: * Gimnodesportivo Vava Duarte - Praia *Polidesportivo João de Joia - Mosteiros *Polidesportivo Simão Mendes - São Filipe *Polidesportivo do Mindelo - São Vicente Island *Polidesportivo Municipal do Sal - Espargos *Polidesportivo de Tarrafal - Tarrafal on Santiago Island

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:In Cape Verde